Simple present
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The sun rises in the east.
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- used to talk about something that happens regularly, usually often or never.
- used if something is always true.
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| You |
| He, she, it |
| We |
| You |
| They |
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| work |
| work |
| works |
| work |
| work |
| work |
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Present progressive
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Jane is working on her new article.
We are flying to Paris on Friday.
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- is used when an activity or event is in progess at the moment of speaking and hasn't finished yet.
- used when an activity has been arranged for a certain time in the future.
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| He, she, it |
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Simple Past
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I painted a picture yesterday.
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- used to say when something happened.
- used to report about past events or to tell a story.
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| He, she, it |
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Past Progressive
| I was cleaning my car when it began to rain. |
- used when an activity was in progress at a certain point in time in the past.
| I |
| You |
| He, she, it |
| We |
| You |
| They |
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| was |
| were |
| was |
| were |
| were |
| were |
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Present perfect
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John has bought a new car.
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- used to say that someting has happened in the past, but it is not kown or unimportant when. Only the result of the action is important.
- used with state verbs.
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| He, she, it |
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| have |
| have |
| has |
| have |
| have |
| have |
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Present perfect progressive
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I have been learning English for 4 years.
I have been learning English since 1998.
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- used if an activity started in the past and continues (almost) up to the present.
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| You |
| He, she, it |
| We |
| You |
| They |
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| have been |
| have been |
| has been |
| have been |
| have been |
| have been |
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Past perfect
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I had looked at the letter before I gave it to her.
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- used when an action took place before another action in the past.
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| He, she, it |
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Past perfect progressive
| I had been trying to phone her before my boss entered |
- used for an activity that started before a certain time in the past and finished at that point.
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| He, she, it |
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will-future
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It will rain again tomorrow.
All right, I will think about it again.
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- used to talk about a future event that can't be planned or influenced.
- used with spontaneous decisions about the future.
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| He, she, it |
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Future progressive
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This afternoon I will be travelling to London.
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- used to talk about an activity that will be in progress at a certain point in time in the future.
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| He, she, it |
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Future perfect
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He will have finished when we return.
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- used to talk about something that will happen in the future, but will be finished at a certain point in time.
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Future perfect progressive
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When we return he will have been working for two hours.
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- we put our minds to a certain point in time in the future at which a certain event will have finished.
(cp. present perfect progressive)
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